Automatic today announced the release of a second-generation Automatic Adapter, which adds dual Bluetooth data streams, built-in GPS, Made for iPhone (MFi) certfication, and an improved connector to its existing feature set.
Like the original Automatic Adapter, the new version plugs into a car's OBD-II port to provide information like distance traveled, gas used, time spent in the car, and more. It's able to provide notifications to advise drivers on when to ease off on the gas and brake pedals to optimize speeds and save gas, and it can deliver information on what's wrong with a car via check engine alerts.
Data collected is aggregated into a weekly driving score, and via Bluetooth, the accompanying app can let you know where your car is parked. A free crash alert service sends assistance whenever a severe collision is detected.
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Along with a new Adapter, Automatic also announced an SDK and an App Gallery, which houses third party apps that are able to take advantage of the data that Automatic supplies. There are more than a dozen apps that already offer Automatic integration, like IFTTT, Nest, Yo, and Pebble.
One of the major features that Automatic's new app integration brings is the ability to see a car's raw performance data in real time (with the new Adapter). Automatic now delivers data to DashCommand, Harry's LapTimer, and OBD Fusion, three apps that can read information from a car's OBD-II port sent from the Automatic.
With Automatic's SDK, additional apps may include data from the Automatic Adapter in the future. The SDK offers access to information like mileage, routes, driving events, real-time speed, RPM, and more.
The Automatic Adapter can be purchased from the Automatic website for $99.95.
Top Rated Comments
For $100, if Automatic lets you find where you parked your car instead of having to buy a new car, it pays for itself TWO TIMES OVER in a single usage.
You will get no support, the same MAC address like thousands of others, and you plug a tool into your car's bus you really can't trust. It is not my party.
Any genuine OBD adapter is around US$ 100. WiFi adapters are a bit faster and work around Apple's Mfi restrictions on Bluetooth. But they are not as convenient as BT in every day use. You need to take care your phone connects to the WiFi you actually want and you need to take care it stays connected all the time (and it will not). So there are pros and cons.
Just my 5 cents. I hope this is not getting another black and white discussion.
- Harry
They need to make this MUCH clearer! It's features like this that matter to me and I retract my first statement if this is the case.
I wonder however if they support the rest of the world or as per usual with these items, it's US only for the best features.
I'm really not interested in driving economically. My car tells me if I'm doing this already and quite frankly, it's hard to drive economically when you have 240bhp under the hood!
And that's included in the $99 without a subscription. For comparison, OnStar starts at $199 a year (or $20/mo) for the "Protection Package" that only additionally includes roadside assistance. If you have a crash once in five years, you've paid $1000 to OnStar, and mere pennies to Automatic.
I don't believe that the ELM327 works with iOS bluetooth without jailbreaking and installing a full Bluetooth stack.